Footlights, the 3-year-old New Zealand-bred colt, is not far from his stakes debut judging from the results of his first two starts in Australia and expectations for his appearance in an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Wednesday.

Footlights is nominated to stakes as soon as early October, pending his Wednesday race at Flemington in the Victoria Derby Preview for 3-year-old colts and geldings. The Victoria Derby will be run on Oct. 30 at the start of the Melbourne Cup carnival.

Distance races have been key to the success of Superbella, who starts in a Class 3 handicap at Happy Valley Racecourse in Hong Kong on Wednesday with an outstanding chance for his third win in his last four starts.

Trained by Frankie Lor, the 5-year-old Superbella had a big finish to the 2020-21 Hong Kong season, winning a Class 4 handicap at 1 1/8 miles at Happy Valley last April and a Class 3 handicap at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin in late June in his final start of the campaign.

HAPPY VALLEY SELECTIONS
(Wednesday, September 22, 2021)

Tom Wood:

R1: 1-6-2-9

R2: 5-8-11-2

R3: 1-11-9-4

R4: 4-1-2-6
R5: 5-4-6-2

R6: 3-13-10-6

R7: 4-10-8-5

R8: 3-9-8-2

R9: 2-11-3-1

R10: 11-3-2-10

BEST: R9 N2 HALL OF CHAMP (WIN)

VALUE: R6 N3 EMERALD SPUR (EW)

PLAY: R10 QQP 2,3,11

Paul Lally:

R1 6-2-9-1

R2 11-8-5-9

R3 1-4-9-8

R4 2-1-4-7

R5 5-4-11-6

R6 8-10-5-6

R7 10-4-5-9

R8 3-9-10-8

R9 9-2-11-10

R10 11-10-3-12

Three races into his Hong Kong career, C P Brave is poised for his first win in Asia and third career victory in a class 2 handicap at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday.

Trained by Tony Millard, C P Brave finished fifth, third, and second in starts at Sha Tin and Happy Valley in class 3 handicaps in May and July, losing the last of those races by a half-length.

In the Hong Kong handicap system, a class 2 race is slightly tougher than a class 3, but still below class 1 races which are a level below stakes.

An outside draw in a large field is not ideal for Nikau Spur in Sunday’s $72,700 Gold Nugget Stakes on turf at Ballarat Racecourse in Australia, but his stalking style and recent race record may alleviate any concern.

Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Nikau Spur has won three of his last five starts and 4 of 9 races in his career, which began in July 2020. 

Nikau Spur won his most recent start, in a handicap at 7 1/2 furlongs at Sandown Racecourse in Melbourne, closing from sixth of nine to win by a length over Global Gift. 

Verry Elleegant, widely considered the leading candidate for the title of Australian Horse of the Year for the 2020-2021 season, will be a heavy favorite to win her ninth Group 1 race in Saturday’s $729,200 George Main Stakes at a mile at Royal Randwick in Australia.

The George Main Stakes, which drew a strong field of nine, will be Verry Elleegant’s second start of the new season, which began on Aug. 1. Verry Elleegant was second by a neck to Mo’unga in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick on Aug. 21 in her first start since April.

The Shorts (G2) – Key Prep for The Everest: Race 8 is a barn-burning renewal of a Group Two sprint named The Shorts, whose nine entrants boast a collective 76 wins from 165 starts. It features no fewer than six confirmed runners for The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf, which will be run at Randwick on October 15. The Everest (6 furlongs) has a slot-holder format, and the following entrants for The Shorts (5 1/2 furlongs) have guaranteed berths in The Everest:

SHA TIN SELECTIONS
(Sunday, September 19, 2021) 

The 6-year-old Irish-bred gelding Harpo Marx may hold a slight edge over his main rival Berdibek in Friday’s Group 3 Newcastle Gold Cup at Newcastle Racecourse in Australia.

Harpo Marx and Berdibek have won their last two starts, tend to run from off the pace, and are the two leading choices in early betting.